In a variety of applications, it may be desirable to provide a fastener that can secure a first and second object together. Examples of objects may include a surface of a boat (such as the hull), a vehicle (such as the grill, hood, or cargo area of an automobile), or a hot tub or pool located on a deck or patio. Other examples may include fabric covers, tarps, straps, or bars. Thus, it may be desirable to provide a fastener to secure a cover to the grill of a vehicle, a tarp to the bed of a pick-up truck, or a cover to the hull of a boat.
Such fasteners typically comprise a socket and a stud. The socket may include a base portion and a receiving portion protruding from the base. Likewise, the stud may include a base and a protrusion extending from the base. The receiving portion of the socket receives the protrusion of the stud, thus engaging the stud and the socket, preventing separation of the fastener. The socket may be secured to a mounting surface of a first object, and the stud may be secured to a mounting surface of the second object. As used herein, “mounting surface” refers to a surface of the object where the fastener is secured to the object. Thus, the socket may be coupled to the grill of a vehicle, and the stud may be coupled to the fabric cover. It should be understood that the fastener may be reversed, such that the stud is coupled to the grill and the socket is coupled to the fabric cover. For ease of reference, the background section of this disclosure refers to the stud and socket interchangeably as “a fastener component” unless otherwise noted.
One technique for coupling the fastener component to the mounting surface involves drilling a hole in the mounting surface and using a screw to clamp the fastener component to the mounting surface. But this technique has a significant disadvantage of damaging the mounting surface by drilling a hole through the surface. Thus, alternative techniques have been developed to avoid damaging the mounting surface.
One such alternative technique uses adhesives to secure the fastener component to the mounting surface. For example, the base of the fastener component (which typically has a planar surface) may be coated with a layer of adhesive and then secured to the mounting surface. It may be difficult to provide a strong bond if the mounting surface is curved or otherwise non-planar. Specifically, when coupled, there may be a gap between the planar base of the fastener component and the non-planar mounting surface. The gaps reduce the strength of the bond between the fastener component and the mounting surface. Thus, if the fastener is repeatedly engaged and disengaged over several cycles, then the fastener component may pull apart from the mounting surface. (It should be noted that the same difficulties may be encountered when welding—as opposed to adhering—the fastener component to the non-planar mounting surface.)
U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,643, which lists Lloyd Demedash as an inventor (hereinafter, “Demedash”), describes a fastener that purports to couple to non-planar mounting surfaces. Specifically, Demedash describes a “flexible mounting member” that is affixed to the fastener and that deforms to follow the curvature of a non-planar mounting surface. The flexible mounting member has a post that engages with an aperture defined in the fastener, thus securing the flexible mounting member to the fastener. Demedash teaches that the amount of force provided by the post (to secure the flexible mounting member and the fastener) is greater than the amount of force necessary to disengage the fastener (that is, to pull the socket from the stud). Thus, according to Demedash, the flexible mounting member will not detach when the fastener is repeatedly engaged and disengaged over several cycles. Demedash is assigned to FIA, Inc. of Winnipeg, Canada, which makes the STICK A STUD® product that is allegedly a commercialized embodiment of Demedash.
But the fastener described by Demedash (and the STICK A STUD® product) have several disadvantages. Most notably, tests performed on the STICK A STUD® product establish that the product fails when subjected to relatively low pull strengths. Additionally, the method of attachment between the flexible mounting member and the fastener requires specific design constraints that may be undesirable. Specifically, the post of the flexible mounting member requires that an aperture be provided in the fastener. It may not necessarily be desirable to provide a fastener with such an aperture. Finally, the post protrudes into the body of the fastener, which may obstruct proper engagement of the socket and stud.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a fastener component that couples to a non-planar mounting surface, but at the same time provides a high degree of strength prior to failure, withstands repeated engagement and disengagement of the fastener over several cycles, and also avoids limiting design constraints.